Javier Fernández-Sanguino Peña dijo [Sun, May 28, 2006 at 11:40:46PM +0200]:
> > > For me, yes, some questions asked, some delays involved, but no
> > > detailed background checks. I'm sure neither the FBI or the CIA (or,
> > > as for Mexican authorities, CISEN or PGR) were involved.
> >
> > Then some government organizations do not take as stringent a
> > set of precautions as others do. That, by itself, is an unsurprising
> > statement.
>
> In Spain, you are *required* to have a national ID card (if you are
> over 18 years old), that means the Police will provide you with one
> regardless of what background checks they might want to run. That is, they
> *have* to provide you with a national ID card. Same happens with the passport
> BTW. Unless they want to remove you of it (because you are being prosecuted
> and they fear you might ran away), they *have* to provide you with a
> passport. Not because it is a requirement, but because you have the *right*
> to travel abroad (at least it is in Spain)
There is a catch - And that catch forced me to do the military
service. No, it's not a military service as you know it, it's more a
joke than anything else (going every Saturday morning to do some
social labor - planting trees, cleaning streets, etc. And taking a
very small part in a parade). But anyway...
Our constitution grants any person in Mexico the right to travel, to
exit the country at will. Ok, perfect. But now, what happens if the
government does not want to issue you a passport? Simple: You can
travel anywhere you want - as long as the destination country accepts
you to enter. And, of course, no country (or, closer to the truth,
very few countries) will allow you to enter without a passport.
If a Mexican is outside Mexico, he must be granted the right to go
back there - and that can only be achieved by having a valid
passport. Thus, I have at least three passports valid only for six
months IIRC, from the time I lived in Israel. But yes, once back in
Mexico, and once my passport expired, I had to go through the military
service to get a new one.
Greetings,
--
Gunnar Wolf - gwolf@gwolf.org - (+52-55)5623-0154 / 1451-2244
PGP key 1024D/8BB527AF 2001-10-23
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